Define Fun
by Azuri-Chann
Summary: Makoto decides to teach Tsubaki how to unwind and have fun, with Noel's help of course. Though the word "fun" is not commonly used in Tsubaki's vocabulary. One-shot. Gift-fic.


A/N: This story is dedicated to LegnaResoleon, I hope you like it! I was scribbling down ideas and then this occurred to me so I dashed to the computer, typed it out and did not leave until it was done. Well my back is killing me right now, but even though the final product is slightly different then my usual writing style, I had a lot of fun writing it. Enjoy~ :3

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**Define Fun**

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It was a warm and sun-filled day. A light breeze caressed the strands of grass peeking out on the field which overlooked the scenic view of an Acadamy and the picturesque town stretching further beyond.

A straight-postured girl with a tainted pink hue to her red hair filled the empty field with her presence as she trudged uphill. This girl was Tsubaki Yayoi and she -along with a light-haired girl and a brunette beastkin- made their way underneath the shade of the vast evergreen canopy of an oak tree with hopes of relaxation. Being students of the Military Acadamy, they had endured yet another laborious day of studies and training and were weary in their stroll.

The beastkin with the furry squirrel-tail, stretched her arms over her head in a full yawn. "Whew, today was such a draaaag!" she groaned, throwing her body back and landing with a soft thud on the tufts of grass.

Noel, the girl with blonde hair hanging loosely over her meek shoulders, seated herself on her knees next to her usually energetic friend. "Your speech for World History Class was very well done, Makoto!" she commented, graciously.

Makoto opened her eyes and looked up at the blonde with a goofy grin. "Are you proud of me?" she asked.

Noel smiled down at her. "Of course! Even the tutor looked impressed, when usually looks so grim."

A smug smirk formed on Makoto's face, she closed her eyes again yet spoke with a high-air. "Yeah, my awesomeness has that affect on some people."

The red-haired girl shook her head from where she stood and seated herself beside Noel, placing her hands on her lap. "If it wasn't for that Cramming Session you begged me for last night, your 'awesomeness' would not have been in tact," she cared to remind.

Makoto sat upright, leaning over Noel to object. "I didn't_ beg_ you!" she said, and Noel gently pushed her back in her original place, feeling awkward at having to be in the middle of this. Literally.

Tsubaki inclined her head in a soft nod. "Right, instead you threatened to bounce on my bed all night long," she admittedly corrected, causing a defeated frown to escape the beastkin.

Noel stifled a chuck at her friend's sarcasm. Tsubaki and Makoto got a long well, but they were always having these small conflicting spats here at there. Especially when it related to studying.

The brunette held her chin in her hand and leaned her head forward as if in thought. "Well, for some reason your bed _is_ the bounciest compared to mine and Noel's," she mused. "Kinda unfair if you ask me..."

"Look how you're changing the subject," Tsubaki noted listlessly, resting her chin in her knees and gazing over the town in the far distance below.

Makoto bounced over Noel- who shrieked- and then landed in front of Tsubaki. Clutching the startled red-haired girl by the shoulders, she gently shook her back and forth, saying, "Well, it's true! Did you ever try bouncing on it before?"

"No," Tsubaki composed herself, tucking her bangs behind her ears as she cleared her throat. "Why would I do something so childish?"

"Because it's fun!" Was the flippant, to the point, and well-thought response.

Makoto was always goofing off, almost never taking the big picture into perspective and looking at things from an angle where she would experience the most fun out of it. It was just her personality, though she had the potential and was capabale of great things when she put her mind to it, as the red-haired had noticed.

"And that's supposed to be a valid reason?" Tsubaki rolled her eyes and then went into a full on lecture-mode. "Makoto, life isn't all about fun. It's about hard work and perseverance. Those are the prime aspects that will get you somewhere in life, fun can be experienced at a later stage. First comes work, and then play. Not the other way around. It's like this—"

Makoto zoned out of the lecture, nodding over her shoulder toward Noel who seemed to be silently watching this whole spectacle (though actually secretly admiring the beastkin's tail).

"Mehh, Tsubaki needs to loosen up, eh Noel?" suggested the brunette.

"Which is inborn naturally as the very cruxis of human nature, the intent to focus on suceeding, and when you sharpen that, you will obtain only the best in life after working hard and studying to the capacity of—"

Noel paused, contemplating the question.

"And that is why you use i before e except after c." Upon bringing her long-winded explanation to a close with a calm nod of her head, Tsubaki flushed scarlet, now aware that the two of them haven't been paying any attention to her lecture.

"Well, maybe a bit," Noel admitted, pinching her fingers closely as to demonstrate.

"Who said that I couldn't have fun?" Tsubaki questioned in a tone, offended that Noel even answered Makoto.

Makoto and Noel gave the self-conscious Tsubaki blank stares.

The red-haired stood up with a small pout. "I'll have you know, I can have fun just like anybody else!" she concluded in her defense.

"No one said that you couldn't have fu—" Noel started to say, but Makoto flapped her hand, signaling her to quiet down.

The plotting beastkin stood up as well, a wily grin forming as she tilted her head to observe her red-haired friend. "Well...then why don't you prove it, Tsubaki."

"What...?" Tsubaki trailed off at this challenge, an eyebrow twitching. Noel rose an eyebrow from where she sat, but she stayed attentive when Makoto continued.

"You heard me, prove that you can have fun! Right here, right now!"

Tsubaki blinked, her mind belatedly processing her high-spirited friend's challenge. "We're on an empty _field_, Makoto," she stated the obvious after a moment. "There's nothing fun to do up here."

Joining her friends, Noel stood up and looked around; only seeing hills of grass meeting the blue sky in the horizon. Apart from a few bare trees here and there, there really was nothing else on the fields. "Tsubaki has a point," Noel concurred, absorbing the surroundings.

"Huh-uh-uh," Makoto wagged a finger, shaking her head disapprovingly at her friends lack of creativity. "That's where the two of you are going off."

"What do you mean...?" Noel wondered, tilting her head in confusion.

"Going off?" Tsubaki echoed, detecting the not-so-subtle implication. Makoto often teased -when she was kidding around- that Tsubaki and Noel were a little old fashioned.

"Wellll," Makoto suddenly appeared behind Tsubaki and Noel, slinging her arms around their shoulders and pulling them close. "To have fun, you gotta be able to think outside the box!"

Noel's eyes lit up, finally catching on. "You mean...we have to use our imagination!"

"Five points for Noellieee~!" The blonde blinked at her new nickname as Makoto sprinted around them in a circle, spinning around, before coming to an energetic stop in front of Tsubaki. The red-haired girl looked doubtful.

"Even if the place seems pretty dull and boring -kinda like you- you've gotta open those eyes and see the many opportunities of fun that there is! If you do that, this place will look like...like a playground!" she volubly proclaimed, spreading her arms grandly in gesture to the rest of the field.

Tsubaki crossed her arms, apparently unfazed. "In other words, I've got to delude myself to the point of seeing things that don't exist." she surmised matter-of-factly.

Makoto's demeanor sunk as she trudged her way over to Noel, who really wasn't standing as far as the word "trudge" made it out to be.

"She's a lost cause Noel," Makoto deduced in a low tone, putting a hand on her hip.

"Hmmm," Noel pursed her bottom lip, narrowing her eyes in thought as she staidly regarded Tsubaki. An idea clicked at the back of her mind and Noel shot her hand up as if she was in a class and had just remembered the answer to a pop quiz question. "I know!"

Makoto and Tsubaki both looked at the blonde as she began to explain her absolutely brilliant plan. "We can give Tsubaki examples of all the fun games we can play here!"

Makoto perked up at this form of genius and immediately glomped the blonde. "That's my Noel! A demonstration is in order!" she exclaimed, jabbing her finger at Tsubaki's collarbone.

Tsubaki's eyebrow twitched when the two girls giggled and muttered plans amongst each another after scurrying off a few feet away.

"Have I no say in this at all?"

Noel and Makoto exchanged glances, then looked over their shoulders at the redhead with innocent smiles. "Nope, not at all!"

~x o x~

The girls played charade, but that got _very_ old_ very_ fast seeing that Tsubaki guessed correctly every single time. Makoto seriously thought it was unnatural for a person to be that accurate. Privately deciding that mental games were Tsubaki's strong point, and not in the least fun (for her that is), Makoto moved on to more lively games.

After coaxing Tsubaki into playing Tag which didn't last long because Noel got tired and Tsubaki complained about getting sweaty, the girls then had races, which led to the same complaints. And then they cartwheeled, which inevitably led to the same complaints-and a few added bruises to Tsubaki when her legs got tangled in her frilly skirt.

I Spy was getting boring, the girls played it every night when they had nothing to do, plus there was not a lot of cover to play hide-and-seek so Makoto decided to...improvise.

The beastkin swung her arms forward, using momentum to push her legs in a curve, sending her crouched body in a perfect loop.

"Swinging on a branch is supposed to be fun?" Tsubaki's incredulous comment was lost with Noel's cheers of encouragement.

Even though the idea of swinging your arms out of its sockets didn't sound like much fun, Tsubaki had to admit that Makoto's agility was impressive.

With her half-squirrel reflexives, Makoto landed before her two friends with a tap, her arms outstretched behind her as she swept a graceful bow. "Thank you, Thank you."

"That was awesome, Makoto!" Noel applauded, lightly nudging Tsubaki with her elbow. Yielding, Tsubaki raised her hands with a small smile and clapped slowly.

When Makoto's secret ego had enough boost, and she grinned and masaged her one shoulder.

"What now?" Tsubaki asked, now that the commotion had simmered down.

"Now it's your turn!" Makoto motioned toward the branch, beaming brightly.

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, pointing to herself. "Me? Do that?" she said blankly, with almost no expression on her face. Makoto couldn't be seriosu, could she?

"What's wrong, Tsubaki?" Noel approached the red-haired girl, blinking inquiringly.

"You're not a fraidy cat, are ya?" Makoto waggled her eyebrows, leaning in with her hands on her hips.

Tsubaki ignored her friend's taunt and turned her face to look the other direction, calmly stating her reason, "It's just that I'm not properly attired for 'Branch Swinging', in case you had forgotten."

The blonde and brunette took a moment to examine Tsubaki and, well...the fact that she wore a long skirt definitely counted in her favour.

Noel pursed her lips and looked from the tree to Tsubaki, mentally attempting to find a solution. But Makoto being the way she was simply suggested, "Just take off your skirt. No one's here to see" as if it was as simple as that.

Tsubaki sweatdropped at her friend's candid tone when saying that. "That's not the problem..." she managed, weakly.

Makoto groaned before miraculously moving on to something else. "Oh well. New game!"

~x o x~

This time Noel used her imagination to come up with a fun game for them to play. She took her tie and well...tied it around her eyes, instructing Tsubaki to do the same.

After Makoto checked that it was properly fastened, she took a step back from Noel and Tsubaki - who stood side by side- to observe her handiwork.

"So...what game is this?" Makoto asked, when logically, that should have been the question asked before going through the whole blindfolding procedure and accidentally getting knots in Tsubaki's hair.

"Tsubaki and I have to try and catch you while we're blindfolded, and you've got to guide us with you voice!" Noel chirped, satisfied in her idea.

Although the game sounded simple enough, Tsubaki faltered, turning her head in the direction of Noel's voice. "What? What if we drop off the cliff?"

Going splat didn't exactly sound fun and appealing to her...

Noel reassured calmly, "That's why Makoto is going to stay clear of the cliff, right Makoto?"

"Duh," Makoto nodded even though they couldn't see. "Now catch me if you can~!"

Sounding like she was having way too much fun, the beastkin sang various phrases in a singsong voice. Noel and Tsubaki stumbled in the direction of Makoto's voice which seemed to change direction almost every time.

"Work them thighs Tsubaki! Work 'em!"

Blushing in embarrassment when she heard Noel let out a giggle, Tsubaki flustered and rapidly neared Makoto. "Wh-what are you talking abou-ooof!" Tsubaki's response was muffled when the beastkin darted out of the way causing the red-haired girl to trip over her own feet.

Spitting out the grass and wiping her mouth Tsubaki stood back up again, only to have a searching Noel walk straight into her. Both girls let an "oomph" escape them.

"Waoh, sorry tree!" Noel muttered, stumbling to hold on Tsubaki's shoulder for balance.

Having heard who it was, Tsubaki raised her hand to her mouth and chuckled. "It's me Noel."

Noel was an incredibly bright girl, but sometimes she said the most dimwitted things.

There was a quick pause. "Oh," Noel started, awkwardly, giggling sheepishly. "Heheh, I was wondering why this tree felt so soft!"

Tsubaki would have rolled her eyes if she could, but in this case, she couldn't. She then noticed something.

"Hey, where's Makoto...?" she voiced her thoughts, listening carefully for said beastkin's absent voice.

"Eh?" Noel tilted her head to the side, now realizing that it had been awfully quiet. "Now that you mention it, she has been quiet for a while..."

"Makoto?" Tsubaki called, keeping her feet planted in the ground as she listened hard for a reply. Noel called as well, "Are we still playing?"

Tsubaki frowned when no reply came. She ripped the blindfold off, after struggling to untie the knot, and then looked around as Noel still called. "Makotoooo!"

"Hmpf," Tsubaki's eyes narrowed, scanning the area. As she imagined, Makoto was nowhere to be seen.

Eyes still searching, Tsubaki wrenched Noel back by the shoulders and pulled the makeshift blindfold off.

"Wha...?" the blonde haired girl blinked, her eyes slowly registering to the light. When she noticed Tsubaki frowning, she soon joined her. "She ran off and ditched is, didn't she...?"

"She did." Tsubaki withered. Both girls sighed hopelessly.

"Well, we should probably go looking for her." Noel suggested, putting a hand over her eyes and squinting.

"When we find Makoto, I'm giving her a piece of my mind."

Tsubaki's scowl was one to dread.

Firstly, because she hardly ever scowled as she hardly had any reason to. Secondly, she had _red_ hair, which made her scowl look all the more fierce. And thirdly, well... there was no third reason actually, but if there was, it would certainly be added to Noel's mental list of why Tsubaki's scowl was one to dread.

Noel averted her gaze from her fuming companion, already feeling sorry for Makoto, even though she just left them stumbling blindly in the middle of the field. "She deserves a scolding, but...go a little soft on her?"

Tsubaki frowned at the very idea and with a weary sigh, grabbed Noel's forearm and walked ahead. "Come on, let's go and find her."

~x o x~

After trekking uphill, the walk managing to calm Tsubaki down a bit, the two girls found Makoto lying on the hill sprawled out on her back with a bubble of drool inflating and deflating as she breathed in and out, dreaming squirrel-like dreams involving nuts, almonds and more nuts.

"Is she nuts?" Tsubaki exclaimed in a low tone, infuriated. "She just left us like that and all for a nap?!"

"If you're that mad Tsubaki, then why are you whisper-yelling quietly as to not disturb her sleep?" Noel ingenuously pointed out, whispering as well, and Tsubaki was left speechless. She just pursed her lips in a grim line

"She looks so peaceful~" Noel chuckled softly as the brunnete's short hair ruffled in the breeze.

Tsubaki shook her head, holding a hand to her forehead. These girls...

She bent down on her knees, gently placing her hands on Makoto's sides.

"What are you doing?" Noel whispered, confused. Her look of confusion soon turned to alarm when the red-head let out an uncharacteristically devious grin and pushed Makoto's body forward.

"Tsubaki!" Noel shrieked when she realized what her friend was doing. At that very moment the sleep bubble burst and Makoto open her eyes in surprise.

"Huh?" Disoriented, the beastkin grabbed Tsubaki's wrist as she was sent off in a slow downhill tumble.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
"NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYYYY !"

Was the simultaneous shout of all three girls, screaming in differently pitched voices but with equally panicked tones.

Tsubaki had shrieked, pulling Noel by the ankle and adding her into the rolling ball of yelling teenage girls, resulting in all three of them toppling down the hill in a loud and colourful pile.

The world spun. First a blurry sky, then ticklish grass, then the sky again, and then another face full of grass.

"Kyah! Ahh! Ooh! Deee! Dwoh! Zooi! Ooof!"

So it went until the land flattened beneath them and their rolling bodies thudded to a rapid stop.

Groaning, Tsubaki touched her head tentatively, blinking uneasily and looking up to see the vast sky with fluffy clouds, which oddly looked like Jin for a minute. Noel warily peeped from behind the safety of her fingers; noticing the clouds spinning to form a big fat panda. Makoto moaned dizzily before noting the swirling clouds in the sky which settled to form the outline of an acorn.

All three girls blinked again to see the clouds reform back into their usual fluffy state, realizing that it was just a trick of the light and the dizziness. With their heads touching as they lay on their backs, Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto clamped their lips shut. No less than a minute later, all three girls burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"What the, ha ha, what the hell?" Makoto gasped for breath between laughter, her eyes tearing slightly.

Noel caught her breath, looking at the sky with a wide smile. "Tsubaki was about to tumble you down the hill and then you grabbed her and she grabbed me!"

Despite the gruesome outcome that may have happened, another bout of laughter erupted from the girls.

"Did you hear how you shouted, Tsubaki? _Kyaaaaa_!" Makoto mimicked Tsubaki's screech and the red-haired girl nudged her with her elbow even though she was smiling widely, fighting to keep a straight face, which was impossible since she couldn't stop laughing.

"Noel squawked like a seagull!" she said causing Makoto to stifle a snort.

Noel pouted at that. "Tsubakiiii!"

The three girls laughed a while longer, until their cheeks hurt and they could no more. After a collective sigh, one by one their eyes drifted up towards the clear blue sky spread up above them.

"We should do that again!" Tsubaki finally expressed, chuckling softly. Noel and Makoto rolled over, hoisting themselves up with their arms and staring at the red-head with unblinking eyes.

"Wh-what?" Tsubaki managed, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the gawking looks she was getting.

"You're crazy!" Makoto gasped, a jovial sparkle in her eyes, even though she felt a bit weirded out at Tsubaki's enthusiasm to tumble down a hill.

"I wouldn't want to do that again..." Noel admitted weakly, tucking a strand of her behind her hear as she glanced uphill at the distance they tumbled from.

"That was...that was fun!" Tsubaki declared, stifling a fit of laughter at the incredulous expression she had gotten in response.

Makoto looked at her intently, her lips stretching to form a grin. "I...I think we've done our job, Noellie!" the beastkin winked at her blonde friend, thumbing up. Noel and Makoto shared a quick high-five, stretching their arms over Tsubaki to do so. The red-haired girl chuckled to herself about the state their hair and clothes were in, though none of them could really be bothered.

"No high five for me?" Tsubaki wondered, jokingly.

Noel squeezed Tsubaki's right arm and leaned her head in a cheerful half-hug while Makoto did the same on the other side. Chuckling when Tsubaki stuttered in surprise, her friends burrowed their heads on her arms in a friendly cuddle.

Tsubaki closed her eyes and laughed when they snuggled her. These two were truly...odd. But, although they wound her up at times, they were fun to be around.

"Hey..." Noel started, pointing her finger at one specific cloud. "Look at that!"

Makoto and Tsubaki fixed their gaze on the cloud Noel pointed out. It was bulbous and fluffy, claiming a place between fine strips of white clouds so it stood out clearly.

"An L and an R?" Tsubaki voiced in wonder, reading the letters that the cloud formed. It was almost as if someone dabbed a pen in the fluffy white billows and swirled it into smooth writing.

"Huh...? L. R?" Makoto scratched the side of her cheek with a puzzled look.

"I wonder what that means..." Noel speculated silently, she was the type to believe all things had a meaning, and although the others didn't think too deeply about it as she did, they admired it too.

The three very different yet similarly disheveled girls lay right there on the green field, fatigue finally rearing after their activities. They picked out the images they saw forming in the billows of white fluff suspended in the blue and then after a while simmered down in quiet, just gazing upon the clouds and holding hands, appreciating days like these when they could be together and knowing that this day will be in their memories forever.

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A/N: So...this was a bit laidback and cheesy (very cheesy) though personally, I think the ending part with the cloud was pretty funny. It was totally random by the way. Hope you guys enjoyed! *falls asleep*


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